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Melice Redding ha capito. Dopo dieci anni trascorsi in carcere per difendere Richard Bell, ha capito che non vale la pena di morire per lui, e ha scelto di combattere. I passi da compiere sono chiari: trovare Richard, preparare la propria difesa al meglio, e aspettare fino alla data del processo. Il destino della detenuta sembra roseo, eppure l'attesa si rivela più complicata del previsto. Ci sono troppi spettri del passato a intralciare il riscatto di Mel, troppa rabbia da frenare e neppure un Guardiano d’Anime a proteggerla da quella follia. Perché i desideri sono più forti delle buone intenzioni, e nessuno scorpione muta la propria natura.

This second gathering of MTB (titled for the surnames of Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner and Peter Bernstein,) is an intense, focused recital that reinforces the exalted position each member holds in the 2024 jazz landscape. Everyone listens. No one overplays or goes for "house." The ambiance is one of concentrated excellence. When eminent jazz practitioners with shared histories convene in the studio without rehearsal or preparatory gigs, a perfunctory, by-the-numbers session is often the outcome. That is decidedly not the case on Solid Jackson, whose personnel, four of whom participated on the well-wrought day-after-Christmas of 1994 Criss Cross album titled Consenting Adults, reside in any hardcore jazz connoisseur's "top-five." All in all, the session is, as the cliche goes, "all killer, no filler," performed at a level that might have provoked Charlie Haden to respond with a hearty "Solid Jackson." "There was a natural blend," Bernstein says. "We all go way back, and everyone was very comfortable being around each other. One thing I like about making a record is that you're able to spend a day with people you've been meaning to hang out with for a long time. It's not just a party. You're working, too. But that's how we interact socially - by playing music. I was amazed. It's 30 years after we did the first one, but everyone is relatively intact. It's really a miracle. We're all still here; we get to play together again.

This second gathering of MTB (titled for the surnames of Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner and Peter Bernstein,) is an intense, focused recital that reinforces the exalted position each member holds in the 2024 jazz landscape. Everyone listens. No one overplays or goes for "house." The ambiance is one of concentrated excellence. When eminent jazz practitioners with shared histories convene in the studio without rehearsal or preparatory gigs, a perfunctory, by-the-numbers session is often the outcome. That is decidedly not the case on Solid Jackson, whose personnel, four of whom participated on the well-wrought day-after-Christmas of 1994 Criss Cross album titled Consenting Adults, reside in any hardcore jazz connoisseur's "top-five." All in all, the session is, as the cliche goes, "all killer, no filler," performed at a level that might have provoked Charlie Haden to respond with a hearty "Solid Jackson." "There was a natural blend," Bernstein says. "We all go way back, and everyone was very comfortable being around each other. One thing I like about making a record is that you're able to spend a day with people you've been meaning to hang out with for a long time. It's not just a party. You're working, too. But that's how we interact socially - by playing music. I was amazed. It's 30 years after we did the first one, but everyone is relatively intact. It's really a miracle. We're all still here; we get to play together again.